$250 is a popular price bracket.
Samsung Galaxy 2
many higher priced readers
a little higher than a Lenovo, a Galaxy Player, etc., the original Fire,

Just low enough that a lot of people that have been turned off by iApple's pricing might give them a try and leave a lot of other products hung out to dry.

But the main thing is they would be competing fiercely in the 7" bracket which has been a very comfortable bracket for the other competitors.

Well, you don't need to compete fiercely when you have an apple in the back, that'd alone guarantees you can add $100 at least on top of similar priced tablets, the shiny apple is worth that much if not more... to some at least. I don't see this mini selling for less than $299, but I could obviously be wrong.